Collapsible hat-package.



J. W.-WEISS.- GOLLAPSVIBLB HAT PACKAGE. APPLICATION FILED AUG.13, 191s.

2 SHEBTSSHEET1.

Patented Sept IIIE NORRIS FE1ER:S CO. PHOiO-LITHO WASHINGTON. U, I:

J. W. WEISS.

COLLAPSIBLE HAT PACKAGE.

APPLICATION mmn AUG 1a, 1913.

1,109,722. n d pt 8,1914.

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Application filed August 13, 1913. Serial No. 784,491.

To all whom it may concern le it knownthat I, Josnrr: W. WEISS, a citizen of the United States of Amerlca,

residing at the cityof Baltimore, State: of

lilaryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Collapsible Hats Packageaof which the following is a specification. u 1

' This invention relates to a package for hats consisting of a box together with hat spacing and positioning means; i

"The object of the invention is to reduce the cost of packing straw and other stifi hats byreducing the cost of shipping the boxes and hence" their cost at the hat factory. The boxes are bulky and fragile and this fact is taken into account by the transportation companies with the result that'the rate for shipment is correspondingly high.

may also be permanently set up, by the box manufacturer and delivered by him inthis condition to the local trade where the cost of transportation is comparatively low, and while the collapsible feature is an important element, the package which is herein described has, independently of this feature, the important advantage of beingabsolutely rigid and supporting the hats so that they cannot be injuredeither by contact with each other or with the box walls and thisreffect is enhanced by the use of corrugated paper for the box walls as this material forms aneffective cushion for the hats if by [any chance they sho ild' come in contact with the box walls. At thesame time, the box is i so designed that it maybe produced with the minimum expense of labor and the maxi-. mum ofeconomy as to material.

In 'the accompanying drawings I have} illiistrateda box embod'ying the features satisfies inthe preferred form. However, these" features and combinations of details? are capable of being widely varied within thescope of the invention.

Figure l is a perspectiveview of the body of the box with thecover and bottom removed, the latter being shown' slightly;

spaced from the box but otherwise in their operative relation. Fig. 2 is a vertical central sectiontaken through the boxsh'owing the. spacing and positioningImembers and the hats themselves'ini elevation. Fig. 3 is a plan ofmy collapsible hat spacer and positioning member Fig. 4: is a vertical central section through the positioriingmemher showing the hat in operative relation thereto. Fig. 5 shows the spacing andpos'itloning members, the parts being separated ready to be collapsed. Fig. 6 showsthe spacer'in collapsed condition. Fig. 7 shows the body of the ,box collapsed. I T

Thepackage consists of a box having its side walls 1 in the form 'ofacollapsible cylinder or a polyhedron approaching the cy lindri'cal in formycl'osedat the topand bot;

Specification of Letters Patent. PatentedSept. 8, 1914:. i

tom by'means of removable cover. and both tom pieces lOqaiid 11 of-the shape of the cross section ofthe box and having a rinror flange 12 at right angles to thebody of the cover and bottom pieces and adapted to inclose the edge portions of the sidewalls "of I thepol'yhedron atthe end to which theparticular-member is applied. -As shown, the box is octagonal in form and offsuflicient length to lioldaplurality of hats, preferably a half 'dozento each .box, placed one on top in a' single column, anchof cross section slightly' greater in dimensions than the brims 2 of the hats 3 to be packed. The package also includes positioning and spacing members 4,;30nsisting of a flat positioning member 5 and a cylindrical spacing member 6. The positioning member is in the of the other so that the hats are" arranged form of a sheet of pasteboard or the like, i

equal in form and dimensions to the correspending dimensicns of the cross section of the box opening and centrally apertured, the aperture being slightly greater in dimensions than the cross section of the crown of a hat of the kind to be packed, and having projecting inwardly from the sides of the opening one ormore tongues 7, preferably two on opposite sides of the opening;

The cylindrical or spacing member 6 is in the form of a sheet of paste-board or the.

like, which may be somewhat lighter in weight than the material forming the positioning member This spacing member may be formed of a band of width somewhat exceeding twice the height of the crowns of the hats to be packed, joined at its end; to form an oval ring or cylinder'6, of suliicient size to receive the hat crowns. The spacing member is. slotted at S at points corresponding to the position of the tongues 7 and intermediately of the width or the band so that the spacing member or cylinder 6 may greater than would be occupied by so much raw paper, the spacing member Gbeing removed trom engagement with the positioning member 5 and collapsed as shown in Fig. 6, Also the cover and bottom members 10 and 11 are removable, or rather when the box is made, the bottom is not fastened unless the box is intended for local delivery, but the tubewhich forms the body 1 is collapsed as shown' in Fig. 7 and the cover, bottom, side walls and spacing and positioning members are all packed in flat form. The package as shown in Fig. 2, includes not only spacing and positioning members l, but other such members 4, to be used at thetop and bottom otthe package. These have a shorter cylindrical or spacing member 6 than have the intermediate members 4:, but are otherwise similar in that they consist of a positioning member 5 having tongues engaging slots in'the band which forms the spacing member 6, but the latter incloses the crown of a single hat only and serves o space it from the top or' bottom of the box as indicated in the drawing. 7

The h ats when packed as shown in Fig. 2, placed in pairs, brim to brim and crown to crown, forming a single column of the length of the box, the crowns are inclosed by spacing members 6, 6, the larger cylinders 6 inclosing the pairs of juxtaposed crowns and the shorter'members 6, the single end crowns. Thus the crowns are held out of contact witheach other. With each spacing member, there is a cooperating positioning member 5 which serves to hold all the hats engagedby that spacing member in the center of the box.

With each hat being held centrally or the box by a positioning member 5 and having its crown protected and held out of contact with any adjacent body, either the crown of the next hat or the top or bottom of the box, by the spacing members 6 or (3, the hats are as effectively protected from injury as they can well be when packed in any receptacle which is suiiiciently light and cheap to be manu'f ctured and shipped without prohibitive expense. The etlicicncy of the protection afforded the hats is increased by constructing the box of corrugated paper, which, should either the brim or crown of the hatcome into contact with the box wall by indentation of the latter or displacement of the hat, acts as a cushion and protects: the hat from injury even in such emergency, and the cost of the package is greatly dc: creased by the fact that every portion of it can be collapsed and the whole of it packed in the spaceordinarily occupied by the same quantity of raw paper so that the expense of delivering it at the hat factory is'reduced to the minimum.

I have thus described specifically a single embodiment of my invention in order that its nature and operation may be clearly un derstood. liowever, the specific terms here: in are used in their descriptive rather than in their limiting sense and the scope of the invention is defined in the claims.

Iclaim v 1. A spacing and positioning member for hats, the spacing member consisting of a flat plate apertured in the form ofthe crown of the hat and having inwardly projecting tongues on the edges of the aperture, and the positioning member consisting of a cylinder within the aperture, slotted to receive the tongues, the cylinder being of a length exceeding twice the height of a hat crown.

2; A collapsible hat package consisting of a box having a collapsible tubular body of polygonal cross section, av correspondingly polygonal cover and bottom, each having an I upright rim to inclose the end edges of the body, and spacing and positioning members within the box, the positioning members consisting each of a flat plate of dimensions to substantially fit the inside of the box, each positioning member being centrally apertured in the form of the cross sectionof the hat crowns and having inwardly projecting tongues on the edges of the aperture, the spacing, members consisting each of a flexible band joined at its ends to form a ring or cylinder, slotted to receive the tongues, each cylinder being placed inside the aperture of a corresponding positioning member, the tongues of the positioning member entering the slots of the spacing member, the hats being placed in a single column, crown to crown'and brim to brim, the adjacent crowns being inclosed each in a single spacing member of a length exceed ng the height of the two crowns so that the tops of the crowns are spaced apart, anclthe end crowns being brims out of Contact with the side walls of inolosecl in a single spacing member of 'rethe box. 1 cluoecl length slightly exceeding the height Signed by me at'Baltimore State of Maryof the crown so that the crowns are held out land this 29th clay of July 1913. s OI" Contact with the box and with each other, JOSEPH WEISS.

each spacing member being inclosed within a Witnesses: I positioning member which engages the side JENNIE FARSON, walls of the box and keeps the edges of the EDWIN H. SAMUELs.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addre i t commissiner of Yatents Washington, D. C. v I i 

